Men's Soccer

RIC Blanks Engineers, 3-0

Oct 07, 2009

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – A balanced scoring
performance helped propel visiting Rhode Island College to a 3-0
victory over MIT in a non-conference men’s soccer game on
Wednesday night. The loss lowered the Engineers’ ledger to
6-5 on the year while the Anchormen improved to 4-5-2.

RIC opened the half with a flurry of shots before the game became a
battle in the midfield. MIT broke the stalemate in the 22nd minute
when Zachary Kabelac put a shot on net that was scooped up by
Anchormen goalie Helder Faustino right before Christian Therkelsen
had a chance to redirect the ball.

On RIC’s counterattack, Josh Sousa sent a pass to Ryan Kelley
two yards in front of the goal. Kelley’s initial shot was
stopped by netminder Dylan Rankin. He quickly booted the rebound to
the far post which was turned away on a diving save from Rankin. On
his third try, Kelley gathered the loose ball and chipped it over
Rankin to put the Anchormen on the board. RIC extended its margin
in the 26th minute on a strike by David De Melo. From the far
sideline, Jose Ruiz sent a pass through traffic which was gathered
by De Melo at the top of the box and then booted to the lower left
corner of the net.

In addition to enjoying a 2-0 lead at the intermission, the
Anchormen held a commanding 12-3 advantage in shots and a 5-3 edge
in corner kicks.

RIC continued to attack in the second stanza with Rankin picking up
point-blank saves on blasts by Julian Montoya and Ruiz in the first
two minutes. The Engineers put some pressure on the Anchormen in
the 54th minute courtesy of a deep throw-in by Joey DeRosa. After a
few headers by the Cardinal and Gray, RIC cleared the ball out to
preserve the shutout. The Anchormen capped the scoring in the 73rd
minute as Louis Tavares converted a feed from Dan Rodrigues.

Rankin finished the night with 10 saves while Faustino made five
stops in his first shutout of the season. RIC out-shot the
Engineers, 21-9, for the game and held a 9-8 margin in corner
kicks.

Both squads return to conference play on Saturday, Oct. 10. MIT
will travel to NEWMAC foe Springfield College while RIC make the
trip to Little East Conference rival Plymouth State University.